Principles of Plant Breeding

Aims and scope of plant breeding

Increased yield has been the ultimate aim of most plant breeding in any crop.
Plant breeding aims to improve the characteristic of plants so that they become more desirable agronomically and economically

1. Higher yield: Higher crops yield. Developing efficient genotypes hybrid varieties for grain fodder and fiber
2. Improved quality: It determines its suitability for various use

• Grain size, color, milling and baking qualities in wheat
• Cooking quality in rice oil content in oil seed.
• Malting quality in barley and sugar content in sugar cane
• Keeping quality in vegetables
• Protein content in cereals. Lysine in cereals methionine and tryptophan in pulse
3. Disease and insect resistant varieties are stable, safest and cheapest.
4. Change in Maturity duration- It permits crop rotation, double cropping, late planting.
5. Agronomic characteristics: Plant height, tillering, branches erect. Eg: Dwarf in cereals is associated with lodging resistance and fertilizer response
6. Photo insensitive: It promotes cultivation in new areas throughout the year.
7. Non shattering eg: Soybean, Mung.
8. Determinate growth: Eg: Mung ,Cowpea and Red Gram.
9. Dormancy Eg: Seeds germinate even before harvesting if there are rains at the time of maturity. Eg: Greengram and Ground nut.
10. Varieties for new seasons Eg: maize is grown in Kharif. Now it can be grown rabi/ summer.
11. Moisture stress and salt tolerance.
12. Varieties for rain fed areas, saline soils. In India under 7-20 m. ha area is salt effected.